By Mark Kleis

Friday, Mar 11th, 2011 @ 4:34 pm

Leftlane reported in late 2010 that two anonymous sources had "confirmed" Cadillac was working on a possible plug-in hybrid variant to join the current SRX powertrain choices, but now a new source has added credibility to the claim.

The latest confirmation comes from Jon Stec, a fuel system integration engineer that worked on the Chevrolet Volt, who spilled the beans during a call with AutoblogGreen, saying "We've got another plug-in coming, which is the 166, the SRX, which is the same basic technology [as the Volt]."

It appears as if Stec let that one slip, as another GM staffer on the call was quick to point out that such a car does not officially exist.

The previous report was based on knowledge shared by two sources speaking with Reuters regarding the development of the plug-in hybrid with Reuters, suggesting that the vehicle is intended to help stretch development costs of the Volt across more vehicles.

The latest report only helps to confirm what was previously said by an anonymous source when it was suggested that some of technology used in the Volt would carry over to the SRX-based plug-in hybrid, thus helping to reduce the cost of development on a per vehicle basis through improved economies of scale. The second source said that the CUV would utilize technology that had previously been explored with Buick and Saturn prototypes before being abandoned in 2009.

When contacted by Reuters for questioning, Cadillac spokesman Nick Twork declined to comment, citing the inability to discuss product development for competitive reasons.

Should GM bring this vehicle to market, it would give the automaker a unique offering that would compete with the RX hybrid by Lexus.